Captain Wayne Rooney, in 70 minutes, touched the ball 29 times and completed 15 of 20 passes. Delph, in a third of the time, had 23 touches, easily the most involved of the six substitutes, and completed 18 of 19 passes. His stats, pro rata, more than measured up to Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

But of course spreadsheets don’t tell you everything. They can’t show whether a player looks at home on the international stage, or fits in happily with the ‘big names’.

Delph’s fine form for Aston Villa has finally been rewarded (Picture: Getty Images)

But even if he’d given the ball away numerous times and joined the likes of Jake Livermore, Matt Jarvis and former Villa players Lee Hendrie and Brian Little in the ‘one cap as a brief sub‘ category, just making his England senior debut will have felt like a success.

In 2010, towards the end of his first season at Villa, he suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury that kept him out for 10 months, while an ankle injury curtailed a loan back at his first club Leeds. In his first three years in B6, he started just 18 Premier League matches.

Delph finally became a regular under Paul Lambert, but after an inconsistent 2012-13, he finally hit his straps last season, after being told to have more self-belief.

About time, too. Delph’s call-up was, to some outsiders, an indictment of the lack of midfield options after the retirements of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard, and injuries to Michael Carrick and Ross Barkley.

But those who watch him week in, week out, will know Delph has the quality to succeed at the highest level.

Most importantly he has the character to realise he hasn’t cracked it just yet – and the hard work to stay in exalted company starts now.